Status: 15.11.2023, 20:40 PM
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Image from a video released by the Israel Defense Forces shows Israeli soldiers walking near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. © Israel Defense Forces/IDF/AP/dpa
Israel's forces find Hamas weapons in Gaza's Shifa clinic. Meanwhile, criticism of the military operation at the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip is growing. The overview.
Gaza/Tel Aviv - The Israeli army has found weapons in the Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, according to a military spokesman. The operation in the clinic is still ongoing, Hagari said on Wednesday evening. In a section of the clinic, a room with special technology and combat equipment of the Islamist Hams was found, he said. In another department, a Hamas operations center was discovered. The findings "clearly prove that Shifa was misused for military purposes, in absolute contradiction to international law," Hagari said. The mission will continue as long as necessary.
"Shifa is a symbol"
"Shifa is a symbol, none of the Hamas leadership could have imagined that we would get there," Hagari said. After the massacre on October 7, 200 Hamas terrorists involved in the atrocities were housed there.
Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus showed a bag with an assault rifle, ammunition, hand grenades and a uniform hidden behind an MRI machine in a video. Other weapons were found in another closet, he said. One piece of equipment was labeled with the name of Hamas' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. A great deal of intelligence-relevant information was also found. All finds are currently being thoroughly investigated.
Initially, the army's information could not be independently verified. Hamas denied the reports as a "blatant lie and farce."
Partly fierce battles
Israeli ground troops entered the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night. There were reports of hours of fighting in the clinic. One doctor said that there was some fierce fighting. There were hours of gunfire and bombardments, a doctor at the clinic reported, according to the Washington Post. The news channel Al-Jazeera reported that "dozens of soldiers" were in the hospital's emergency room. In addition, tanks were stationed in a courtyard of the building complex. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths was appalled by the deployment of the Israeli military at Shifa Hospital.
Clashes have been going on for days near hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip. © Mohammed Talatene/dpa
International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilian targets such as hospitals. However, if civilian objects are misused, this no longer applies, explained Daniel-Erasmus Khan, an expert in international law at the University of the German Armed Forces. In this case, international humanitarian law even accepts unintended civilian casualties in the event of an attack. However, Israel must do everything in its power to evacuate civilians from the clinic.
Probably more than 2000 people in the Schifa clinic
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of Monday, more than 2000,600 people were in the Shifa clinic in the north of the cordoned-off coastal strip, including probably more than 1500 patients and around <>,<> displaced people. The figures are based on estimates by the Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. However, eyewitnesses confirmed the figures.
Five gunmen killed in skirmish in front of clinic
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari assured that civilians used by Hamas as human shields would not be harmed. In a skirmish in front of the clinic, soldiers killed at least five armed Hamas members, according to media reports. Israeli soldiers were not injured.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator: Protecting civilians above all else
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Griffiths wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday: "The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must take precedence over all other concerns. Hospitals are not battlefields"
He presented a ten-point plan for Gaza, the core of which is a humanitarian ceasefire. Continuous aid deliveries are needed. He appealed to Israel to open more crossings for this purpose.
UN: Only one hospital in northern Gaza still accepts patients
In the northern Gaza Strip, according to UN figures, only one hospital is still admitting patients due to fighting and fuel shortages. The Al-Ahli hospital in the city of Gaza is the only one still in minimal operation, the UN emergency relief office OCHA announced on Wednesday night. "Everyone else has suspended operations due to a lack of electricity, medical supplies, oxygen, food and water." About 500 patients are currently accommodated in the Al-Ahli hospital.
Tanker Truck Delivers Fuel to Gaza Strip
For the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war, a tanker truck carrying fuel from Egypt arrived in the Gaza Strip. However, Thomas White, head of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, was critical of the shipment. "That's only nine percent of what we need daily to continue life-saving activities," he wrote on X.
UN: Humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip on the brink of collapse
The UN Palestine Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned that humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip would soon collapse due to the lack of fuel. There is also hardly any fuel available for drinking water treatment. Due to the lack of fuel for electricity generation, according to Palestinian sources, there is also a risk of a total failure of the communication networks.
Erdogan accuses Israel of strategy of annihilation in Gaza
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again sharply attacked Israel shortly before his trip to Germany: "Israel is pursuing a strategy for the total annihilation of a city and its people by deliberately targeting schools, mosques, churches, hospitals, markets, buildings and roads," Erdogan said on Wednesday. He is expected to visit Berlin on Friday. Erdogan had recently questioned Israel's legitimacy. He also describes the Islamist Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization in Israel, the United States and the EU, as a "liberation organization."
Scholz wants to speak plainly with Erdogan about the Gaza war
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced that he wanted to clearly address differences in connection with the Gaza war in his upcoming talks with Erdogan. "It is very important in this matter that there is clarity and that you put forward your own position very clearly," Scholz said in the Bundestag on Wednesday.
"Serious violations of children's rights" - Unicef Director in Gaza
Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell called on the warring parties to an immediate humanitarian ceasefire after a visit to the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, she also called for the release of all children kidnapped by the Islamist Hamas, as well as safe access for humanitarian actors to provide life-saving services and supplies to the suffering population. Russell pointed to reports that more than 4600,9000 children have been killed and nearly <>,<> injured. Dpa